Many aircraft are required to provide passengers and crew members in the pressurized cabin with an emergency breathing mask in the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure due to a rupture in the cabin wall or to a failure in the aircraft's pressurizing system. The conventional emergency breathing mask is typically stowed in an overhead storage container directly over the user. Upon a sudden loss of cabin pressure, the container door automatically opens and the mask is deployed by gravity to the user. The mask typically hangs from the open container in the vicinity of the user, but the flow of breathing gas to the mask is not automatically activated. Because the mask may drop over an empty seat, it is desirable to have a user-activated valve that controls the flow of breathing gas to the mask. It has been known to provide a lanyard that is connected between the breathing gas conduit or the mask and a valve in the container such that when the mask is pulled toward the face of the user, the tension on the lanyard opens a valve to allow breathing gas to flow to the mask. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,247 which is incorporated herein by reference.
What is needed is an improved valve manifold assembly.